Home Information Pack Regulations 2007

My Lords, I did not say that the debate was invalid; I said that it was bizarre. In the light of the noble Lord’s comments, it is more bizarre still. Don Quixote tilted at windmills; he had a physical target to aim at, but for us the target will disappear tomorrow and there will be nothing for us to tilt against. Given that the Government are about to withdraw the regulations, can we stand back from the immediate question of the home information packs and look at the broader problem? It is of long standing and arises from the fact that, under our statute law, there is inevitably a gap between the moment there is an agreement subject to contract and the moment there is an exchange of contracts. That gap arises out of statute law. It started with the Statute of Frauds 1677 in the aftermath of the civil war, when claims regarding hundreds and thousands of transactions might or might not have been valid. The 1677 Act ordained that there should be some evidence in writing to confirm a sale and purchase of land. That was the situation in the Law of Property Act 1925 and it was strengthened by the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989. The Law Commission report of that year said that it was not sufficient that there should be some note or memorandum in writing evidencing a sale but that the contract itself should be in writing. During that period of uncertainty, when the transaction is in a state of limbo, all sorts of abuses are possible, gazumping being the very worst of them. The noble Earl suggested that solicitors might have been working for their own purpose in delaying these matters. Lawyers have had to face that charge of delay for many centuries. The Roman poet Ovid said in the first century that delays in law are odious—every Member of the House will know exactly how it reads in Latin, so there is no need for me to reiterate it. I do not believe that lawyers are responsible for that delay. During that period, a great deal has to be done as far as the purchasing party is concerned. Normally, a third party is involved; that is, a lender. The lender, be it a building society or a private lender, will oftenbe concerned not only with the physical state of the property but with the valuation. In addition, the building society, as well as the private mortgagee, may want to know a great deal as to the state of the purchaser’s finances. All of that is bound to take time. Probably the worst indictment that can be brought against the Government, who have played fair inthis matter and have been sincere and consistentfor 10 years, is that they have overestimated the significance and status of the home information pack. They have done so for the reasons that I have mentioned. It is only one of a number of factors that affect this situation. Whether or not one has a perfect system of home information packs—this is far from perfect—one will always face the basic problem, which will exist unless we change our statute law. Some people will say, ““Look at Scotland””. There, by giving formal replies to a number of missives, one arrives at a concluded and binding contract. I shudder from seeking to make any evaluation of the state of the law north of the Tweed. France has a totally different system. While the system that we have is under statute, and I doubt whether we can changeit without bringing about greater anguish, these problems will remain and the possible advantages of the home information pack will at best be limited. The home condition report being a non-mandatory part of the home information pack is a massive weakness. The Merits Committee states at paragraph 18 of its report on the regulations: "““The Law Society expressed their view that the decision to remove the mandatory HCR had undermined the whole concept of the HIP; that it was inappropriate to link EPCs to HIPs; and that HIPs, ‘will, in fact, make the process more difficult, much more expensive and remove existing transparency from the market place’””." I am not sure that that is absolutely correct, but the main thrust and the main potential benefit of the home information pack are lost unless there is a mandatory provision in relation to the home survey. That may simply not be possible at the present time.It could succeed only if there was an adequately manned inspectorate, made up of people who had not only examination qualifications but also experience. That experience will be invaluable with regard to the status of the home information pack in the market. Therefore, I shall ignominiously abstain if the matter is brought to a Division. The Government have thought well about this matter, have been sincere and have been concerned with a real problem that affects so many people. About 25 per cent of all transactions fall in the three to six months that it takes for the deal to be concluded. The wastage in money is of the order of £300 billion to £400 billion per annum. That is a real social and economic problem. I do not believe that it would be right for me to vote against the Government and certainly I cannot vote for them in this situation. Therefore, I am left in that purgatorial situation of abstaining.